Back Off
I wrenched my back over the weekend. I didn't do it during any of the physically demanding activities in which I participated, naturally; I slipped standing up and caught myself at a weird angle. It's unpleasantly painful, as you might expect, but basically manageable in any one posture. It's only transferring between positions that's presenting me with significant difficulty.
As far as I can tell, the reason that my back hurts when I try to change my posture is that the muscles are clenching. Of course, the reason that the muscles are clenching is that my back hurts. It's a clever little self-fulfilling prophecy of pain, and I've got to say, I don't really get the point. This seems about as evolutionarily useful as sweaty palms in response to stress. If my muscles weren't clamping down when I tried to use them, I wouldn't have the pain; in fact, if they hadn't tensed up when I slipped initially, I might not have the injury at all. Cats have it right; when you feel yourself falling, you relax. That's the way to land safely.
It hasn't been all bad, though. For one thing, I seem to be confusing people with the dissonance between my words and tone of voice. "You look like your back hurts," they'll say, noticing me hobbling around, unable to straighten my spine.
"It does," I'll respond cheerfully. "I twisted it pretty badly."
They look at me oddly. "So, it -- doesn't that hurt?"
"Oh yes, quite a lot," I say happily. Which it does, but I don't think complaining about it is likely to make it hurt less. I assure you, if I had any reason to think that'd be helpful, you'd never get me to stop whining.
Additionally, I've taken the opportunity to build Slapdash Standing Desk 1.5, the finest in slapdash chairless desk technology. Many people go out and spend money on raised desks and other such frivolities; as you can see from the picture, I've simply created my standing desk by piling computer books and booklets full of CDs on my existing desk until I reached the desired height. I briefly used Slapdash Standing Desk 1.0, where the monitor was not raised, but that seemed like a good way to give myself a crick in my neck. The addition of the UPS box raised the version number to 1.5, which as you can see received my seal of approval.
My back problem will likely resolve itself in a few days, and I may just disassemble my standing desk after that. On the other hand, this is supposed to be better for you, anyway; perhaps I should look into getting a real standing desk. It's a lot more likely that I'll just throw a cloth over the various stacks and call it Slapdash 2.0, though.
As far as I can tell, the reason that my back hurts when I try to change my posture is that the muscles are clenching. Of course, the reason that the muscles are clenching is that my back hurts. It's a clever little self-fulfilling prophecy of pain, and I've got to say, I don't really get the point. This seems about as evolutionarily useful as sweaty palms in response to stress. If my muscles weren't clamping down when I tried to use them, I wouldn't have the pain; in fact, if they hadn't tensed up when I slipped initially, I might not have the injury at all. Cats have it right; when you feel yourself falling, you relax. That's the way to land safely.
It hasn't been all bad, though. For one thing, I seem to be confusing people with the dissonance between my words and tone of voice. "You look like your back hurts," they'll say, noticing me hobbling around, unable to straighten my spine.
"It does," I'll respond cheerfully. "I twisted it pretty badly."
They look at me oddly. "So, it -- doesn't that hurt?"
"Oh yes, quite a lot," I say happily. Which it does, but I don't think complaining about it is likely to make it hurt less. I assure you, if I had any reason to think that'd be helpful, you'd never get me to stop whining.
Additionally, I've taken the opportunity to build Slapdash Standing Desk 1.5, the finest in slapdash chairless desk technology. Many people go out and spend money on raised desks and other such frivolities; as you can see from the picture, I've simply created my standing desk by piling computer books and booklets full of CDs on my existing desk until I reached the desired height. I briefly used Slapdash Standing Desk 1.0, where the monitor was not raised, but that seemed like a good way to give myself a crick in my neck. The addition of the UPS box raised the version number to 1.5, which as you can see received my seal of approval.
My back problem will likely resolve itself in a few days, and I may just disassemble my standing desk after that. On the other hand, this is supposed to be better for you, anyway; perhaps I should look into getting a real standing desk. It's a lot more likely that I'll just throw a cloth over the various stacks and call it Slapdash 2.0, though.